60 Little Things
by Pink Kunai
Summary: Ars Amatoria Challenge All Carter and Dana have are the little moments, but that's all they needed, cause in the end, they became so much more. Collection of Dana and Carter oneshots
1. Friends

Friends

"You know, for a person studying to be a doctor, you sure suck at math" Kelsey commented as she flipped another page in her magazine, the two were lounging in their shared room. Dana stopped skimming through her medical text book to look up at her best friend.

"What are you talking about, I happen to be very good at math" Dana claimed proudly.

"Oh yeah?" the yellow ranger wondered, quirking one of her eyebrows up, "What does Carter plus Dana subtract friendship equal?"

"A delusional Kelsey" Dana replied quickly gathering her books in her arms in an attempt to escape.

"De-nial"

"We're just friends Kels" Dana said on her way out the door.

"Friends, don't find excuses to touch each other" Dana shot the brunette a look.

"That sounds disgusting, and we don't find excuses to touch each other" Dana replied, giving Kelsey her full attention. But she wishes she hadn't, for there was Kelsey, clutching her pillow.

"You gave us a scare" Kelsey said in a high pitched imitation of Dana's voice, "Gave myself quite a scare too" she continued making her voice deeper to resemble Carter.

"And pause!" Kelsey said dramatically flinging her arms out horizontally, "for a moment to stare lovingly into each others eyes" and the extreme athlete proceeded to gaze lovingly at her pillow. Dana rolled her eyes and walked out of the room.

"Friends don't do barf worthy things like that!" Kelsey's voice rang from within the room.


	2. Secrets

Secrets

Everyone had secrets and Dana and Carter were no exception. Their secret wasn't like Ryan's and Kelsey's who would play footsy under the table and accidentally kick Dana every couple minutes. Nor was it like Chad's, who didn't want to tell his parents he was in love with a mermaid. It wasn't even weird like Joel's framed picture of Ms. Fairweather.

No, Dana and Carter's moment came the day the two snuck out to enjoy a baseball game together.

Carter called it a date.

Dana? Dana called it their little secret.


	3. Patience

Patience

"Carter"

"No"

"Carter!"

"I'm fine"

"Carter"

"Daaanaaaa…"

"Carter…"

"No, seriously Dana, I'm fine, perfectly healthy"

Dana's eyebrows furrowed as she glared at her patient. Who would have known that big, bad firefighter Carter Grayson was afraid of one little needle. Dana was patient, but she was no saint and could only be patient for so long. And coaxing a 20-year-old to take a shot for over an hour was really pushing it.

"Carter grow up, I'm not going to bait you with candy like a two year old"

"C'mon Dana, I'm an ex-ranger I think I can survive from the common cold" Letting a groan of frustration Dana handed the needle to a nurse and whispered something in the young girls ear.

Carter hopped off the table thinking he was free to go, only to be pinned against the bed by Dana, who was now kissing him.

"Ouch!" Carter cried pulling away from the pink ranger as he felt the familiar pain in his left arm. Dana laughed as she cleaned off the prick wound and put a bandage over it.

"See that wasn't too bad, was it?" she said, planting a chaste kiss on his lips.

"I'll say it is, I sure hope you're not doing that with all your patients" a voice teased from the doorway.

"Ryan!" Dana cried, thoroughly scandalized. She punched her brother light heartedly on the shoulder as he approached her for a hug.

"I came to check on my fellow firefighter and I find him playing tonsil hockey with my sister" Ryan said laughing, "nice" he added as an afterthought giving Carter props, which the red ranger gladly returned.

Dana threw her hands up in frustration. Today she learnt something. Patience, when it came to men, was something that didn't exist.


	4. Knight

Knight

The blaring siren reminded Carter a lot of his Lightspeed days. Waking to nothing more than Captain Mitchell declaring another Demon was out to destroy the city…again. To Carter, those were the good old days, saving the world with his closest friends.

Carter rolled off his cot and sprinted over to slide down the fire pole. His fellow firefighters were not far behind as they all clambered aboard the fire truck.

"So where are we headed this time?" Carter asked, having dismissed the location announcement during his nostalgia moment.

"Mariner Bay General Hospital" his captain answered, "some douche bag was smoking in the bathroom, I don't know what the situation is but we're the fifth station to be called out, must be pretty big"

Panic gripped Carter's heart and he hoped to every God in the world that Dana didn't have a late shift tonight. He hadn't had a chance to talk to Dana in 3 months now. It was just weird now that they weren't rangers anymore. He hoped he wouldn't see her under these circumstances, it didn't seem appropriate. Carter's hold on his helmet involuntarily tightened. When they arrived at the scene of the fire, he leapt out of the truck.

The scene before him was of total chaos. The middle floors of the hospital were ablaze and hoses were already firing gallons of water at it. Many ambulances were present as well as helicopters as they taxied the patients to other hospitals. There were crying families and panicked doctors running around trying to take control of the situation, it only seemed to add more to the chaos.

"Grayson come on, they need a smoke team up on the 7th floor, there are some patients and doctors still trapped up there" Carter snapped back to attention and grabbed an oxygen tank and jogged up alongside his station mates into the fire. He wanted to look around for Dana, make sure she wasn't in the fire, but now wasn't the time.

If Carter thought down below was chaos, then the 7th floor was worse. Everything possible seemed to be burning and there were still many patients stuck up here. Carter helped a young girl up and guided her to another firefighter who took her down. A distraught nurse came running up to him.

"Please help, we have a doctor trapped in the room at the end of this hall"

"Okay Miss, just head that way and some firefighters will escort you down" Carter cautiously made his way through the rubble until he got to the room. The partially melted name plate made his heart skip. He could barely make out the name but the M, I, H, L, was undeniable.

"Dana!" he cried as he knocked the door down with his shoulder. In hindsight he would find that incredibly stupid, if Dana had been behind the door…well he doesn't like to think what would've happened.

"Carter!" her muffled reply came back. Carter ducked under a fallen shelf and found Dana huddled in a corner with a wet rag over her mouth. The shelf near the door to her office suddenly collapsed under the burning fire, blocking any hopes of escape Carter had. He quickly removed his mask and placed it over Dana's face, she needed the oxygen a little more than he did. Her head was already lolling back and forth in exhaustion.

"C'mon Dana, stay awake, I'm going to get you out of here" he said as he lifted her up into a sitting position, shaking her shoulders lightly. The blonde doctor murmured something incoherent, while Carter called for help on his walkie.

"Keep your eyes open" he pleaded, "they'll be here soon" But she had already fainted. Carter quickly grabbed his mask and secured it over his face. Picking her up, he wrapped as much of her within his jacket as he could and dove through the burning arch way of her doorway. God be damned that whatever was on the other side could have killed them, he would deal with that later. If he didn't get Dana out now, he would never get that chance to talk to her ever again.

* * *

Dana woke up to the familiar beeping of a heart monitor. Her arms felt like lead and it was hard to breath. But waking up to pain, was better than not waking up at all she reckoned. Glancing downwards to the unfamiliar weight on her left hand, she found Carter sleeping. Gingerly raising her right hand she smoothed out his messy, soot covered hair.

"I knew you'd come" she whispered before drifting back into unconsciousness.

He has been her knight since Lightspeed, she didn't doubt that he still is now.


	5. Time

Time

The first time they kissed was when they were up on night duty. It was Dana's first kiss and it didn't seem like anything could go wrong, keyword being 'seemed'. The gone wrong part, well that was her dad walking in to give her some coffee. It must have been pretty scaring to see your 'little girl' propped against the very screens she and fellow red ranger were suppose to be keeping a watch on, sucking each others' faces.

"Dana!" Captain Mitchell yelled, almost spilling the coffee he held. The two jumped apart.

"Father!" Dana cried, she began fixing her rumpled shirt and straightening her skirt like it would make a difference, "what are you doing up so late?"

"I thought you might have wanted some coffee…to…um…stay awake" the captain replied awkwardly. Carter remained silent. The captain then straightened his face.

"I believe you two have some work to do" he said with authority. Carter immediately saluted the older man, while Dana nodded, head bowed in shame. When the captain had left the control room, Dana rounded on Carter.

"This is your fault" she said smacking him on the chest. Carter caught her second attempt to hit him.

"My fault?"

"Yes, you initiated the kiss" she said poking him with her free hand. He caught that one too.

"Yeah but you finished it" he replied huskily diving in for another kiss.

Someone cleared their throat. Two heads snapped up to look at the entrance, and their stood Ms. Fairweather with her arms crossed.

"If you two aren't busy you might want to do what you're assigned to" the tech said with a small smile on her face.

"Okay this time was so your fault" Dana said and Carter couldn't help but laugh.

"Third times the charm though…" needless to say, they didn't get much work done that night.


	6. Why

Why?

Joel can't help but wonder why Ms. Fairweather couldn't have been more like Dana. If that were so then the lab tech would be hopelessly head over heels in love with him like Dana was over Carter. They were both nerds in their own right, how come Dana was so easily attracted by Carter's boyish charms and Ms. Fairweather won't even look at him.

Chad can't help but wonder why everyone saw it before the couple did. One would think it was obvious if you were attempting to flirt with the object of your affections. But that was not the case when it came to Dana and Carter. The two were so in love with each other that they couldn't even see past their own googly eyes.

Ryan can't help but wonder why flirting came so naturally to Dana and Carter. I mean that had to be the reason they couldn't see they liked each other. Because flirting just seemed like every day occurrences to them. Which didn't sit right with him, because Carter was a workaholic, Dana was a book worm and himself, well Ryan can't even score a date.

Kelsey can't help but wonder why Dana didn't understand that she got more hugs than everyone else. Not that Kelsey liked Carter in that sense, but his general lack of caring towards them over Dana was kind of irritating. Especially when the two played it off like it was a best friend occurrence. Dana was her best friend and she got less hugs then Carter did.

Dana and Carter can't help but wonder…

"Why can't you guys leave us alone?"


	7. Smile

Smile

For Joel and Chad it was always friendly, something goading. In return he gets a pat on the back or a teasing statement.

For Kelsey it was always warm, something only from brothers. Her smile was all that was needed for repayment.

For Ryan it had to be simple, something encouraging. God knows the two of them brood over the simplest of things.

For Dana, it can be any of the mentioned above. Or it could be as easy as the twinkle in his eye when she says another one of her stupid jokes, or the flitting of a smirk when she does something clumsy like smashing her ice cream into his face.  
For Dana, it could be anything because the best reward came from the bright smile she carried or the girlish giggle that passed her lips.

For Dana a smile was just the beginning.


	8. Duty

Duty 

Carter wished it wasn't his duty to be a ranger…well sometimes. If he hadn't been a ranger then he would have never met Dana. But other times, his duty came in the way of things.

Carter rolled over and reached across the bed to retrieve his ringing phone. He made sure not to wake his sleeping girlfriend. She had just come home from a late night shift.

"Carter" he said into the phone.

"I'm sorry to call you this early Mr. Grayson, you don't know me, but my name is Tommy Oliver" the voice on the other line said.

"Can I help you?" Carter asked.

"I'm afraid your ranger expertise is needed" Tommy replied in a solemn voice. This had Carter sitting up, involuntarily waking up Dana.

"Okay, but you're explaining to my girlfriend why I'm leaving" Carter heard a chuckle from the other end.

"Carter, are you okay?" Dana asked groggily as she sat up. He placed a reassuring hand on her shoulders before turning back to his conversation with Tommy. When he finally hung up, Dana was staring worriedly at him.

"Don't worry, just go back to sleep" he assured as he got out of bed.

"I know your shift doesn't start soon, so why are you up and who called?" Carter finished dressing and then sat down beside Dana on the bed. He pulled her into a hug.

"I have to go away for a couple of days" he whispered.

"Why?" she asked, her voice was whiny and he knew she was upset.

"Ranger stuff" she pulled away, "I promise I'll be careful" he continued, smiling. Dana pulled him back into the embrace. He could hear her sobbing and feel her body shake.

"Sometimes I hate your job" she admitted. He laughed.

"You're a ranger too you know"

"Yeah, but I'm not a firefighter as well"

"True"

"And I don't do reckless things"

"I think going to fight Ryan, by yourself, counts as reckless don't you?" he felt a thump on his back as she smacked him.

"Shut up" she croaked out.

"Don't worry Leo and Wes will be there to watch my back" he heard a choked laugh come from Dana, a mix between her crying and trying to laugh at the same time.

"Great, two more guys with hero complexes" Carter released her from the hug.

"I promise, that even if I don't come back in one piece, I'll have one of them bring you the bits so you can sew them back together" he said with a wink. Dana laughed for real this time and the two shared a brief kiss before he left.

Sometimes Carter wished his Ranger and Firefighter duties didn't have to come before Dana. But in the imperfect world of rangers, saving others' lives always came first.


	9. Dependance

Dependence

Each hug and brush of the hands meant more to Dana and Carter than they let on. Each moment brought them the security they needed. Because it was enough to know that every time they came in contact with each other they had survived another day.

That night, when they were all celebrating the defeat of Queen Bansheera, Dana approached Carter, and he knew exactly why.

"Carter…" she whispered as she came closer. He wrapped his arms around her immediately and tucked her head underneath his chin. They relished the feeling of being in each others arms, having almost lost one another today.

It was too late to take back anything because they've grown too attached. This wasn't an addiction or a security blanket.

This was just dependence.


	10. Routine

**There are two versions of this, i wasn't sure which one i liked better. Actually I'm not even sure if i like either of them :P**

Routine

Carter swung his legs out of bed as he got ready for his usual routine. The clock by his bedside flashed the time in a bright red; it was 5 in the morning. Chad and Joel were still knocked out cold, oblivious to the wakening world. Pulling on track pants and a red t-shirt, Carter left his room, heading towards the rescue rover.

It couldn't have been anymore cliché, honestly, it couldn't have.

"Ouch" Dana muttered as she sat herself up and began picking up her reports that were now scattered around the floor.

"Sorry" Carter replied, handing her some of the papers that had landed around him. Dana muttered a quick 'thanks'.

"You're up early" Carter said. The blonde looked up at him in confusion, "Oh, it's just that you were doing your reports all night so I'd thought you'd at least sleep in"

"I'm not finished yet, so I decided to wake up early and finish them before my father got up"

"Need some help?" Her reaction of shock wasn't exactly what he expected.

"Um…yeah…sure" she replied, unsure. He smiled.

"Great" and the two headed off to the galley, to grab some coffee and finish up the rest of Dana's papers. It wasn't long before the others woke up too and joined the duo for breakfast. Carter almost jumped out of his seat when Chad sat down next to them.

"Whoa there!" Chad said, laughing. Carter's eyes snapped to his watch, instead of the 5:30 that should have been staring back at him, all he could see was an 8.

"Is something wrong Carter?" Dana's caring voice drifted in above Chad's jovial laughter. He managed a chaste glance at her.

"No" he said, playing off his problem with a chuckle, "of course not, are you done with your files?" he asked in an attempt to divert the attention away from him.

"Yeah, thanks for all the help" she replied. Dana got up and drained the last of her coffee before scooping up the pile of papers Carter and her were working on and bid the two men goodbye. Glancing once more at his watch, Carter could only sigh.

"You smell pretty good for someone who just came back from a 10 mile jog, trying to impress Dana?" Chad teased. Carter shot him a look.

"Shut up" the red ranger said.

Dana was probably the only person to ruin his routine and he didn't mind.

Routine

_Wake up in the morning and we start off with a greeting…_

"Morning Carter" "Morning Dana"

_Pop some toast on the plate and we're all sitting around the breakfast table enjoying each others company…_

"Okay, this is a good one…" He smiled despite how horrid her supposedly good joke turned out.

_Then the sirens are set off and we're all dashing into danger…_

"Go on Red Ranger…shoot me" Carter didn't pull the trigger despite that, or at least he thought he wouldn't have too.

_And death…_

"Carter…no he can't be…" Dana dropped to her knees; if her helmet wasn't on she might have retched.

_But we lived against all odds…_

"You scared us" Dana whispered, her arms clutched around him tightly. She didn't want to have that feeling of loss ever again.

_Coming back to the base, time and time again._

"Night Dana" a quick hug, "Night Carter"

_And it happens over and over again, because without this routine, we would have never realized what was before us._

"Dana!" and he was scrambling to get to her, because he never wants to lose her.


End file.
